County residents reaction to Obama gun proposals mixed

Reactions to sweeping gun control proposals made by President Barack Obama on Wednesday were as mixed locally as there were nationally.

Gun control advocates in Washington praised Obama. Ralph Fascitelli, president of Washington Cease Fire in Seattle, said that he was excited by Obama’s proposals.

“I thought it was really bold,” he said. It was comprehensive.”

Universal background checks before a gun could be purchased would be a big first step, Fascitelli said.

Scott Smith, a member of a Whidbey Island gun club, said he’s opposed to cutting off the sale of assault rifles and limiting the size of ammunition magazines, steps included in Obama’s gun plan.

“It’s not going to help, not in my opinion it won’t,” he said.

People already own hundreds of thousands of assault weapons, he said. “You’re trying to put a cork in something after it’s already gone.”

Smith said he, too, has thought about what could be done to stop events like last month’s killing of 20 schoolchildren in Connecticut.

“I’d love to do something,” he said, “but what I’d like to know is would it do something positive?”

Smith said he doesn’t know what steps could be taken to effectively curb gun violence.

“Honestly, I’ve thrown my hands up,” he said. “There’s not much of an answer. There are 65 million gun owners who use their guns correctly. Once in a while someone uses theirs incorrectly. You tell me how to weed out that one person.”